So the new 150 is that good... Hmm...
Jan, just got mine this afternoon and did a very quick, informal handheld comparison between the 150/2.8 and 150/3.5. (I did hand-held first because that's often how I'm shooting the 150, and wanted a real-world comparison between the two.)
Backing up a bit, I should comment that the 150/3.5 is excellent at f5.6 and up, and slightly softer wider open, making it actually pretty nice for people portraits when you want to camouflage some wrinkles. The 150/3.5 also shows some CA and purple fringing at apertures wider than f5.6, but for the most part the purple fringe and CA tools in C1 remove these.
By way of comparison, the 150/2.8 at 2.8 is even sharper than the 150/3.5 at f5.6. Then pretty much all you see as you stop the 150/2.8 down is more DoF. FWIW, it's even a bit better than the 210 ULD, so I'd say yes,
it is that good!
Noteworthy is there is no CA or purple fringe that I can see, even along high-contrast edges wide open. Moreover, it is an IF design optic and focuses closer than the 150/3.5 (1 meter), and even more importantly, appears to nail focus perfectly wide open at f2.8! In summary I'll say it is one of the best lenses I've ever seen from a technical standpoint. :salute:'s Mamiya!
But for all of its operational perfection, there are a few drawbacks. First it is pretty big. It has the more robust, higher-quality build of the newer Mamiya lenses (a good thing), but is perhaps twice as long and half-again as heavy as the f3.5 version. IOW it's no featherweight and more on the scale of its competitor's similar focals. Next is the price. The 150/3.5 new at B&H is $1189 (and good copies can be had used for around $400 on the boards), while this new lens retails for over $3,000 -- or now basically the same realm as it's primary competition.
I'll try and get some comparative images up soon.